Unless you are an ostrich and have your head stuck in the sand the past few days you would have heard that today we, the UK, have now moved to the ‘delay’ phase of coronavirus.
It has now been labelled as the worst public health crisis for a generation. Schools are currently remaining open and there isn’t a ban on sporting events for the time being, but that doesn’t mean that won’t change in the future. And we have been told that it may not peak for weeks or potentially months.
The advice is that if you have a high temperate or a persistent cough, you are to self-isolate for at least 7 days to help slow the lead of the disease. But what will you do with your dog if you and your family get stuck in the house?
Isolation means you can’t leave the house – so that’s a ban on walks as well. I have seen different advice on this, but trust me if you are told to isolate for 7 days it means you can’t leave the house so no walks for Fido.
But my working dog is going to drive me nuts without their walk!
Don’t panic! I am here to help with some fab games to play with your dog to help tire out their brain.
Will they help?
Yes, this is what I do with my pair when we have no walks, I am a dog walker 5 days of the week and sometimes at the weekend my pair just may get a quick 20 minute to ponder. Yes, one of my dogs does love his bed, probably a bit too much! But I do also own a collie cross spaniel who was bred from working lines, so I do understand when you are thinking my spaniel will never settle without their walk – here are 4 simple and easy solutions for you to use.
Scatter Feeding – Have you seen Mary Poppins? Do you remember the bird lady feeding the birds, scattering handfuls of bird seeds around her? I am going to get you to recreate this, singing along optional. Get a handful of their breakfast and scatter it in a small patch of your grass in the garden and help her search for it.
This is getting your dog to use her nose and scent work is great for mental stimulation. Remember to always start easy and have the food scattered in a small area, to begin with, and help her by showing her where the treats are. Getting to easy for her? As she starts to ‘get it’ you can unleash your inner bird lady and scatter the kibble into a larger area. No grass? No worries, check out snuffle mats as these are similar to grass in which they have to search through the fleece to find the food – but using the snuffle matt you may need to subdue your inner bird lady unless you don’t mind kibble scattered around your lounge!
Catch – can your dog catch? As you have restarted to read this I bet you picked up a toy or piece of food to see if they could, did they do it? No? Let’s see how we can teach him to catch.
Start by throwing a treat towards your dog aiming for their mouth, do it slowly and make it obvious in what you are doing. Did they catch it?
You will hear a ‘smacking’ noise when they are starting to try to catch as they open their mouth.
Another way I love is by putting the treats on the end of their nose, take the treat in a vertical line above their nose – not too far away about 20 cms – and as they are still looking at the treat drop it towards the end of their nose for them. Did it bounce off their head? Very normal! Just keep trying until you hear that smacking noise! It took Maisie a day to catch, little Eric my cavapoo took a bit longer at 2 weeks – each dog is different and takes a different amount of time to learn new tricks.Dogs will always find the easiest way to get that treat from you, and the moment when you drop it and they miss it, they have to go over and pick up the treat, eat it and come back toy ou for the next one. If they stand still and just catch it they will get more treats quicker and sooner!
Muffin Madness – everyone has that sad muffin tray at the back of the cupboard where you once made those moist blueberry muffins and planned to recreate them every weekend, but that hobby has long since passed and since then it has been living its life lonely, sad and in the dark. It’s now time for that muffin tray to shine! Place the muffin tray on the floor and pop a bit of your dog’s dinner in each dent, add a tasty bit of chicken or sausage in a couple of the holes too and then put on top of each one a tennis ball. The first time let your dog watch what you are doing and then let them have a go at picking up the tennis bass to get to the food underneath!
Don’t own 12 tennis balls? You could just put any on their toys on top that fits!
Hide & Seek – Split up your dog’s meal into 6 portions, pop it into take away tubs and make some holes in the top of the takeaway tubs. Ask someone to hold onto her as you go around the garden ‘hiding’ the tubs behind pots or in bushes (leave them a bit in view) remember we start everything simple and easy!
Then go back to her and release her and tell her to ‘find it’ – go with her around the garden hunting out her meal with her, each time you find a tub together have a party ‘such a clever dog’ and spent he tub for her so she can eat it.
Gradually make it harder as she ‘gets’ the game. Until you leave her in the house whilst you hide the tubs and then let her out to ‘find it’
You can also mix up this game to get her to find her toys too!
These games are just the start, I will share with you more games that you can play together and help you both prevent getting cabin fever!
Want more?
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